Grand Prix 2014 Australian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

24 years old. Apprenticeship fully served, and finally arrived in one of the two seats that you've been working towards sitting in for years; that of the quadruple reigning champions. And to start with, your home Grand Prix. All you need is for the car and engine combination to maintain its previous stratospheric standards...

At time of going to press, testing has shown little sign that Daniel Ricciardo's dream will be realised. Although, it has to be said, at time of going to press, testing has not been quite as indicative as it could have been. We don't know who is going to be fast and we won't know until the lights go out in Melbourne.

Ricciardo's team-mate, paradoxical pantomime villain and quadrakaiser Sebastian Vettel is going for his tenth race win in a row, although early suggestions are that his assault on double figures might not be as straightforward as some of the previous nine. At Jerez, getting to double figures in terms of laps was a struggle..

Ricciardo will have to make sure he performs well this season to make sure he keeps the dream seat ahead of Daniil Kvyat, presuming the young Russian puts Jean-Eric Vergne's F1 career to sleep in a dignified and respectful ceremony.

Lotus, meanwhile, have very little money, necessitating the parachuting in of Scrooge El Duck as their driver to back up 2012's other panel-beater Romain Grosjean. Their nose looks rather different to anything else out there, and is closest in design to Williams' 2004 walrus nose. Which doesn't save the fears.

McLaren and Mercedes will back up their silver cars with a British World Champion, a Mercedes engine and a plethora of team principals. Button is, of course, the Melbourne specialist. They've got some running in at Jerez; it is unknown whether either are quick, but neither are stationary.

Fernando Alonso's Ferrari hegemony is about to be challenged by Kimi Raikkonen's arrival. Raikkonen won in Australia last year, so he's got form, and this race will be the first to tell us if Ferrari team radio this year will be a story of two passionate racers abusing their engineers, or two old men moaning about their backs.

Sauber's driver line-up is the most boring thing in Formula One since the US Grand Prix of 2005.

Nico Hulkenburg gets ready for his third consecutive last year before he is signed by a big team. A poor Force India will lead to the Hulk crying himself to sleep, while team-mate Sergio Perez comforts him with stories about how McLaren isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Williams have an interesting partnership; Felipe Massa released from the suffocating stranglehold of the Alonso anaconda and partnered with an almost-ripe pretender in Valteri Bottas. They have a new old livery, a new sponsor and new hope. Williams-Mercedes still doesn't sound right.

And, hey, the 2014 Australian Grand Prix has to be the best chance for Marussia and Caterham to actually score a point; only 9 of the other teams' engines need fall apart and 6 of them are made by Renault! Race finishing expert Max Chilton could be the beneficiary. Although he could actually finish 11th if there are only 10 finishers.

So, all that's left to talk about is Melbourne itself. Despite the rugby and cricket last year, the Grand Prix itself has been quite Pommie friendly in the last several years! The yellow lines at the edge of the track bordered by green walls have been a sign of F1 starting for a number of years, and there has been good racing backed up by poor reliability. And, boy, do we expect poor reliability...
 
I really enjoyed today's race. The dominance of the Mercs is a little disconcerting as we could have a run away season again, but from a different team. The level of hatred, or lack there of, thrown at Merc will be interesting to see if their dominance continues.

I thought Bottas and Magnusen were the real stars today. I do hope that Williams can keep up this form (I need them to for my grand FF1 plans to work out).

On the topic of Red Bull. If they (Ricciardo) were able to battle at the top because of their increased fuel flow, where will they fall when they have that issue sorted? Surely the restriction of fuel flow wont drop them down too far. Do you think that they will be about as fast as the Ferraris?

I can't wait until the next GP. I love the new look F1 (apart from the noses).

Also, is it just me or does the onboard shots from Williams remind you of the 2007/08 onboards. The nose being lower than the tyres and the look of the steering wheel shape.
 
Personally I think it will make very little difference to Red Bull's competitiveness. Mercedes are clearly the front runners, then we have Red Bull/Williams/McLaren (not sure in what order) and then Ferrari/Force India I think.
 
The dominance of the Mercs is a little disconcerting as we could have a run away season again, but from a different team.
I'm not so sure. In 2012 everbody thought after the first two races that McLaren would be running away with the title.
I think other teams will catch up quickly. On Sky it was mentioned that Ferrari had electrical problems which meant they weren't able to run their best speed. They will be closer next race, I think.

McLaren and Williams aren't that far off Mercedes.

RBR is the biggest questionmark, they looked better than in testing, but with Ricciardo DSQ-ed I wonder how much of that was due to their fuelflow.
 
They are at least 8tenths off and Nico probably wasn't pushing any where near as hard as the people pursuing him. So it is likely it is actually more than a second. In a normal season that gap would be very hard to bridge but this isn't a normal season, so who knows :thinking: Red Bull will probably catch up, McLaren might catch up but I doubt Williams will.
 

Rosberg Ricciardo Magnussen Bottas

09:42.000 09:44.000 09:46.000 09:50.000
01:37.687 01:37.459 01:37.435 01:38.737
01:35.765 01:36.321 01:37.917 01:38.584
01:34.939 01:35.966 01:36.796 01:36.786
01:35.438 01:36.665 01:36.766 01:35.747
01:34.977 01:35.480 01:35.857 01:34.925
01:35.417 01:35.324 01:35.446 01:35.960
01:34.550 01:35.088 01:35.752 01:35.573
01:34.217 01:35.045 01:35.740 01:35.732
01:34.364 01:35.060 01:35.555 P2:36.28P
01:35.185 01:36.339 01:36.194 02:02.855
P2:14.26P P2:15.22P P2:16.53P 01:58.201
02:29.953 02:22.548 02:15.460 01:40.338
02:21.208 02:20.721 02:20.764 01:56.976
02:14.486 02:14.525 02:14.334 02:06.691
01:33.976 01:35.415 01:35.433 01:38.551
01:34.040 01:34.066 01:34.139 01:35.051
01:33.195 01:33.883 01:34.035 01:35.903
01:32.478 01:33.969 01:34.654 01:35.582
01:33.331 01:34.140 01:34.867 01:35.406
01:32.839 01:33.816 01:34.374 01:34.846
01:33.144 01:33.826 01:34.131 01:34.741
01:33.213 01:34.258 01:34.551 01:34.785
01:33.936 01:34.804 01:34.439 01:35.211
01:33.941 01:35.277 01:35.368 01:35.497
01:34.539 01:34.873 01:35.860 01:34.981
01:35.588 01:35.099 01:36.614 01:35.330
01:35.416 01:34.968 01:36.231 01:35.399
01:34.069 01:35.113 01:36.264 01:35.785
01:34.946 01:35.976 01:35.727 01:35.913
01:34.272 01:35.448 01:35.505 01:35.640
01:35.305 01:36.539 01:35.626 01:35.372
01:34.088 01:35.030 01:35.200 01:35.169
01:33.979 01:35.646 01:34.904 01:34.638
01:33.981 01:35.284 01:34.728 01:35.912
01:34.464 P1:53.31p 01:34.995 P1:55.05P
01:35.190 01:42.360 P1:52.63P 01:39.745
P1:55.19P 01:34.669 01:39.130 01:33.779
01:41.375 01:34.044 01:32.917 01:34.251
01:33.394 01:33.754 01:33.898 01:33.819
01:33.243 01:33.557 01:33.144 01:33.919
01:33.286 01:33.251 01:33.742 01:33.858
01:32.672 01:33.902 01:33.718 01:34.057
01:32.786 01:33.292 01:33.112 01:34.419
01:34.137 01:33.942 01:34.356 01:34.518
01:33.148 01:34.683 01:34.404 01:34.339
01:33.498 01:35.255 01:35.249 01:34.578
01:32.704 01:33.740 01:33.866 01:33.700
01:32.800 01:33.066 01:32.997 01:33.482
01:32.757 01:33.231 01:32.987 01:34.553
01:33.863 01:33.335 01:33.152 01:33.628
01:33.001 01:33.149 01:33.307 01:34.190
01:33.026 01:33.468 01:34.237 01:34.118
01:33.052 01:33.425 01:33.771 01:33.269
01:33.185 01:33.367 01:33.441 01:32.965
01:33.309 01:33.475 01:33.125 01:32.568
01:33.857 01:34.210 01:34.698 01:34.671


 
Apart from a dullish third quarter of the race and the loss of my FF1 number one driver and my reserve driver's DSQ after a splendid drive I enjoyed that.

A lot of interesting things on the tech' front to think about and discuss until Malaysia, not least the fuel sensor and conservation issue! It appears that Rosberg was able to drive a comfortable race in fuel management mode yet have serious legs over the opposition. Red Bull are clearly in trouble if they can only run at a similar pace by exceeding the fuel consumption restrictions.

Superb drive by K-Mag - maybe it's not all hype but a very good job done by Macca's talent scouts. Actually, I would say a fair job by all of the survivors to bring their cars home in probably the most technically challenging season we've had for near on a decade. I could ramble on about good showing from Bottas, Button, etc. etc. but I'll save it for another day ...a lot more to analyse, methinks.
 
The facts of Ricciardo's DQ as best as I can gather, piecing together details from different reports, go something like this.

In one of the early FPs, the team detected irregularities with Ricciardo's FMFS and asked it be replaced. The FIA complied. The replacement promptly failed, at which time the FIA directed Red Bull to reinstall the original (known faulty) FMFS with the software set to a prescribed (as yet unreleased) "offset" (AKA, a fudge factor). Somewhere in this process, the FIA also directed that they switch from the default 10Hz sample rate to 5Hz, apparently in the hope this would ameliorate the problem.

Horner decided the FIA's offset was too extreme because 1) fuel flow data from the injector sensors indicated a lesser offset should suffice to make them good to the 100kg/hr rule, and 2) it would have resulted in too much loss of performance. So he opted for his own home-brewed offset based on fuel injector sensor data.

Horner contends he can prove empirically that Ricciadro's car did not consume more than 100.00 kg of fuel during the conduct of the race. He had to know he would be taken to task, so I presume he would not have made so cavalier a decision unless they had weighed the car to verify fuel consumption and in the doing had concluded that the injector sensors were more nearly correct than the FMFS.

The fact of consuming no more than 100.00kg of fuel -- if it can be proved -- would make them good to the TR and SR proper. The matter of FMFS versus injector sensors, as best as I can ascertain, must either be in some unreleased supplemental regulation or was handed down to the teams and stewards in the form of a letter of instruction or clarification (not an uncommon practise). The first I heard of the practise was in Charlie Whiting's Melbourne press conference.

The sticking point in this dispute is that the FIA claim the decision to fall back to the injector sensor data is solely their province, therefore Horner was exceeding his authority to make such a change. They are arguing in effect that because RBR refused to comply with their offset directive, the salient matter no longer is one of compliance with TR.5.1.5 or SR.29.5, but of whether the team knowingly disregarded their dictate.

Horner claims similar problems with the FMFS were common with other teams, and he suggests some teams might have caused theirs to fail accidentally on purpose. I won't attest to Horner's forthrightness in this claim, however, after the race, Autosport magazine's Adam Cooper tweeted this:

A rival tech director told me they ran at 96 kg/hr to ensure it didn't spike above 100 kg/hr due to 'interference'. And that cost power

This also explains Vettel's power problems. What I had taken to be RBR experimenting with software settings, in a vain effort to eke out some extra horsepowers, was in fact them chasing after a wonky sensor, a problem compounded by the FIA not only failing to resolve their sensor problem when the team identified it in free practice, but compounding it by introducing new and untested software settings. In time, I would be surprised if both Vettel's and Hamilton's DNFs were not traced to this problem.

The FMFS homologation standards required that the device be accurate to within 0.5%. If this rival team to which Cooper referred has FMFSs that demonstrate 3%+ variance, then the FIA in effect are enforcing a parameter they lack the ability to measure. It's like being ticketed for exceeding the speed limit by 5kph with a radar gun only accurate to +/-10kph. And their solution is that you should drive 10kph under, just to be on the safe side.

Except 10kph under doesn't win races.

The one word that stands out in that tweet is 'interference.' I take this to mean RFI, as that has tended to be the bogie man since winter testing began. Regardless of the nature of the 'interference,' the FIA failed to confirm proper function of the device in the environment in which their own regulations require it be relied upon. This amounts to a failure in due diligence of the first order.

Once again, the FIA have let their crocodile mouth write a cheque their budgerigar buttocks lack the funds to cash. It's amateur night at the Leicester Square. Fans who've paid to witness a professional F1 race deserve better.
 
There problem may have been common with other teams, but those other teams turned the flow down, to ensure that they were not breaking the regs. I think that the regulation in question is that of specific flow, rather than the 100kg during the race.

The teams create the regs with the FIA, and therefore would more than likely have had a say in how they should be measured.

The point for me here is that Red Bull unilaterally decided that they were not going to follow the mandated process, as they did not agree to it.

If the fuel flow sensors are faulty, and enough teams are having issues, the alternative method can be used. However, one team cannot decide on their own which method they think is best for them at the time.
 
If Red Bull had worked with the FIA on this, there is room for negotiation. They have that they complied with everything the FIA said, the sensor failed and they can prove it. Then the FIA are in the wrong and things must change.

As it is, Red Bull effectively told due process to sod off, were told about the telemetry issue, ignored the further advice. Red Bull have thus not made even a show of an attempt to comply with the FIA and, frankly, acted like they were cheating.

In short, Red Bull have, for once, played the political game abysmally. Their best interests would be to go with the shonky FIA sensor, comply with the rules and then prove it.
 
One thing you have to credit the FIA for and certainly since Max Whiplash departed is the fact that there is genuine willingness to give the teams an opportunity to comply with the Regs during a race whenever a potential rule break situation is ascertained by the stewards. This was the case a few years ago in Silverstone when Alonso made an illegal overtake and Ferrari were advised that if they handed the place back, they would not be punished. They dragged their heels and were eventually given a drive through penalty. Putting aside all the brouhaha about whether Redbull have a legitimate case on not, they were clearly given an opportunity to fall back in line during the race and chose to ignore this. Sure it may have cost them a few places but half a loaf is better than none.
 
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While red bull domination was annoying/boring, I don't think it's the same with Mercedes. I think the difference is that with Mercedes dominating, we will still have a race for the championship between 2 drivers.

Also we won't have to deal with some of Vettels annoying body language.
 
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